Carmelo Anthony swooped in to score eight of his 22 points in the last three minutes and deliver the New York Knicks a 91-87 home victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday.
The Knicks had lost a double-digit lead in the second half and the game was tied 82-82 when Anthony made his decisive intervention to lead New York to their third consecutive win.
D.J. Augustin missed a potential game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds for the Bobcats (2-7) as they fouled Anthony, who added another free throw to the score.
Photo: Reuters
“A wide open three from our best shooter? I’ll take that,” Charlotte coach Paul Silas told reporters of Augustin’s miss. “I really love the way we stuck in there and battled. We really gave ourselves a chance.”
New York (5-4) fell to Charlotte at home on Wednesday last week before embarking on their current streak.
Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds despite making just 7-of-25 shots in what was a difficult shooting night for both teams.
Anthony connected on only six of his 18 field goal attempts, but his accuracy improved when his team needed it the most.
The scoring forward made two layups to give the Knicks an 86-82 lead, then made four free throws in the last 35 seconds to seal the game.
Boris Diaw had a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Bobcats, who lost their third straight game.
Charlotte opened the contest on a 10-0 run, but it was a short-lived advantage. The visitors trailed by 11 late in the third before clawing back to make it a nail-biter.
New York has regularly struggled defensively under fourth-year coach Mike D’Antoni, but they showed signs of life for a second straight game.
After holding Detroit to 80 points in a win on Sunday, the Knicks restricted the Bobcats to 41 percent shooting.
Tyson Chandler led the way with three blocks and three steals to go with his 20 points and 13 rebounds.
76ERS 96, PACERS 86
In Philadelphia, the 76ers’ handy habit of second-half surges continued as Philadelphia pulled away in the second half to beat the Indiana Pacers 96-86 on Monday.
Andre Iguodala scored 20 points and Lou Williams added 13 for the Sixers, who are dominating in second halves to turn close games into comfortable wins. Against the Pacers, it was a 15-3 run in the third quarter that helped them pull away. The Sixers used a 30-8 run in the third to beat Toronto on Saturday.
The Sixers have made the most of their favorable home stretch, winning in Philadelphia for the third time in four nights. After an off day Sunday, the Sixers played the first game of a three-night stretch that includes Sacramento and today’s game at New York.
BULLS 92, PISTONS 68
In Chicago, the hosts beat Detroit for their 13th consecutive victory against the Pistons.
Carlos Boozer scored 23 points and Derrick Rose added 22 points and eight assists for Chicago, which bounced back from Saturday night’s lackluster loss at Atlanta.
The Bulls improved to 4-1 during their first stretch of nine games in 12 days in 30 years.
Greg Monroe had 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for Detroit, which has lost four straight games.
HAWKS 106, NETS 101
In Newark, New Jersey, Josh Smith scored a season-high 26 points and the Hawks shot nearly 54 percent from the field in beating New Jersey for the third time this season.
Joe Johnson added 22 as the Hawks led for all but a few seconds in winning their third straight game overall.
Anthony Morrow had 20 points for the Nets, who remain winless in four games at home.
In other NBA games, it was:
‧ Hornets 94, Nuggets 81
‧ Raptors 97, Timberwolves 87
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB